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Las Posadas, Bunny Run-Style

Last weekend our Bunny Run neighborhood, located just off the Capital of Texas Highway at the Pennybacker Bridge, celebrated a community tradition we've come to love. Las Posadas is a popular Mexican celebration that recreates the search of Mary and Joseph for a place for the birth of Jesus. Variations of the tradition are celebrated throughout parts of the Southwest U.S., and neighborhood leaders here in Austin have created our own version of the event.

I'm terrible at estimating crowds, but somewhere around 80-100 neighbors of all ages gathered for the annual Las Posadas at the home of Tom and Sharon Burns. The weather turned out perfect for the outdoor event. Two fire pits kept the revelers warm, and tables set up in the garage were loaded with offerings from great cooks - a variety of salads, veggies, and 26 dozen tamales complete with chili and cheese.

Desserts? Chocolate was definitely the flavor of the evening, and I especially enjoyed my mom's world-famous (well, they should be) brownies. And my compliments to whoever made the Zebra White- and Milk-Chocolate Cheesecake. It was divine!

Bursting open the contents of two pinatas is always a highlight of Las Posadas. The younger tykes swung the bat at a Santa pinata, then older kids pummeled a star-shaped pinata.

This was a very special evening for me. Our modern lifestyles keep us so busy that we have few oocasions for gathering as a community and just enjoying each other's company. Everybody brought card tables and chairs, something special to eat or drink, and their holiday spirit.

Check out my Flickr photos of Las Posadas 2006 as well as some photos of the Christmas lights in the Bunny Run neighborhood. I'll be posting some more Christmas lights photos soon, so bookmark the link for a return visit!

Neighbors, please feel free to leave a comment with your views about Las Posadas 2006. And for those of you not fortunate enough to live in our wonderful Bunny Run neighborhood, what kind of community celebrations do you enjoy?

Blogabillies

One of the great features of the Internet is its ability to reconnect people who've lost touch. Over 20 years ago, Terry Taylor and I started free-lancing about the same time while living in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area. A few years later we both moved away, and I lost touch with Terry and his wife, Susan.
    A few months ago I googled Terry and found him here. We've had fun carrying on e-conversations since then and recently decided we'd turn our attention to a blog. I hope you'll check it out, because these two aging Southern Baby Boomers are having a blast as the Blogabillies.
    How'd we come up with the name? I had created a company blog, called Blogabilities, for our PR firm. When I let the extended family know about it, my cousin Suzanne (sister of Carla, who hosted the family recording session) misread the name. She thought it said Blogabillies and asked me if it was about hillbillies who blog.
    Well, I just couldn't let that thought go, so when Terry and I decided to unleash our incessant scribblin' on an unsuspecting blogosphere, we called our effort Blogabillies. Now T-Bone and Belle are yammerin' on a regular basis, telling stories about growing up in the South, about working  in advertising, marketing, branding, communications, writing, publishing, PR (we've covered a lot of territory between us), and in general celebrating the Southern lifestyle.

Y'all stop by and say, "howdy!"